ANSA news

Balkans: Serbian diplomat quit Zagreb conference

Mon, 28/08/2017 - 17:01

(ANSA) - ZAGREB - Secretary General of the Serbian Foreign
Ministry, Veljko Odalovic, quit today a conference taking place
in Zagreb after a Croatian official has levelled heavy
accusations at Serbia, saying that Belgrade is 'the root of all
evil' in the Balkans.
In the introductory speech to the conference, dedicated to the
search for people still missing from the war for Croatia's
independence fought in the 1990s against Belgrade, the
Undersecretary for Croatian Veterans, Stjepan Sucic, accused
Serbia of occupying parts of Croatian territory and committing
innumerable war crimes.
The Serbian diplomat has quit the room after Sucic said ''all
the evil In the region (Western Balkans, ndr) comes from
Belgrade''.
According to Odalovic, the conference format and the diplomatic
protocols were broken, taking into account that the introductory
speech did not touch upon the focus of the meeting.
Over the last two to three years, the relationship between
Zagreb and Belgrade have significantly deteriorated, partly
because of the political rhetoric, full of mutual accusations in
terms of nationalism and authoritarianism, linked to the legacy
of the conflict occurred in the 1990s. (ANSA).

In brief

Founded in 1989, the CEI is a regional intergovernmental forum committed to supporting European integration through cooperation among its Member States.
It combines multilateral diplomacy and project management, both as donor and recipient, while bridging European macro-regions.